Alone Again
by avoidingnemo
Summary: Set directly after The Rainy Day Women. Ryan finds a puppy on his way home. This is their story.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. Or anything OC related at all, for that matter.

A/N: This story was wrote for Joey51. She wanted a story where Ryan finds a puppy in the rain. Jo, thanks again for all the help.

Ryan doesn't feel the rain falling down on him anymore. He doesn't need to look up to know that Marissa has placed her umbrella over both of their heads. He feels her drape an arm across his shoulders. He doesn't look at her; instead he keeps his focus out on the ocean. The irony of standing under an umbrella decorated in hearts with the first Newport girl to claim she cared, only to leave him shortly after, while being upset over the latest girl who'd done the same, isn't lost on him. The last thing he wants is for Marissa to see how upset he really is over Lindsay. He just wants to go back to the Cohens' and hide out in the pool house so he can sulk in privacy. He offers to walk Marissa to her car, but she declines, stating that she lives just around the corner at Alex's now. He tells her goodnight and begins walking in the opposite direction toward home.

Ryan walks down the boardwalk with his head down and his shoulders slumped like he's trying to crawl inside himself. When he reaches the end of the boardwalk, he hears a muffled sound—like someone's crying. He stops and looks around. Not seeing anyone, he takes another step forward only to stop when he hears the noise again. This time, he realizes the whimpering is coming from the bushes. He kneels down in front of the bush and lifts the branches up so he can peer underneath. Lying curled up in a ball, is a tiny, black puppy shivering from the cold, wet rain.

"Hey there, buddy," Ryan says softly, like he's talking to a child.

He slowly reaches his hand under the bush and pulls out the puppy. Immediately, he realizes the black color of the fur is really mud. The dog must've been lying under that bush for awhile, trying to shield itself from the rain.

Ryan pulls off his button-down black shirt, leaving him exposed in the thin wifebeater. He wraps the shirt around the puppy, protecting the small animal from the pouring rain. The shirt is soaked but at least the rain won't be pelting down on the still-shivering puppy. He checks for a dog tag, finding none. He brings the dog close to his chest and resumes his walk home.

Once he reaches the Cohen house, he skips going through the front door and walks around the side, heading directly for the pool house. Ryan doesn't even stop to take off his drenched clothing, but instead, he continues straight for the bathroom. He knows he is probably leaving a trail of water all over the floor, but he isn't concerned about that now. Right now, his only concern is getting this puppy washed and warmed up.

He walks into the bathroom, turns around, and locks the door. None of the Cohens have learned anything about privacy over the year and a half he has lived with them. He gently places the dog down inside the tub and turns on the water. Looking around, he realizes that all he has is bar soap and shampoo. The shampoo will have to do. He tests the water temperature and adjusts it so that it's warm, but not hot. He picks the puppy back up and places it under the flowing water.

The caked-on mud begins to wash off, revealing rich brown fur. Once the bath is finished, Ryan turns off the water and turns around to grab a towel. Before the towel is around the animal, instincts kick in and the puppy decides to shake off the excess water. Ryan laughs. If the puppy had been bigger, Ryan would've been soaked. Well, more soaked. The puppy looks up at him and wags its tail.

"At least someone's happy to spend time with me," Ryan says sadly.

Once he's finished drying off the puppy, Ryan takes a good look at his new friend. She has light brown fur, big brown eyes, floppy ears and big paws that she has yet to grow into. She's going to be a big dog when she grows up. He isn't sure what kind of dog she is. She looks like a mutt to him. She doesn't look like the type of dog most of the Newpsie's would admit to owning and because of that, Ryan likes her already.

He has always wanted a dog. His mom would never let him have one. Theresa had a little black mutt once, but that was the closest he'd ever come to being a pet owner.

Ryan sits her down on the floor and he sits down on the edge of the tub. He strips out of his wet clothing and steps into the shower. He lets the warm water wash over him, wishing that the memories of today could wash away with the water that is swirling around the drain. He quickly finishes his shower, turns off the water, and opens the shower curtain to find the puppy curled up on the bathmat, napping. He can't help but think she looks so cute sleeping there.

Once dressed, Ryan takes the dog into the kitchen-area of the pool house. He places her on the floor, and grabs some sandwich meat from the refrigerator. The dog begins to yelp and wag her tail. "Hold on," Ryan tells her. He laughs at the tiny bundle of fur jumping up on her hind legs, demanding him to hurry.

He places a plate full of torn-up sandwich meat in front of her and watches as she starts to scarf it up hungrily. He gets her a bowl of water and places that on the ground as well.

Once she's finished eating, Ryan washes the dishes and begins to get ready for bed. He turns out the light and crawls into bed. He tosses and turns, unable to find comfort. His mind is plagued with visions of Lindsay telling him she's moving to Chicago.

The puppy's whimpering draws Ryan back out of his thoughts. He rolls onto his side and she immediately runs to his side of the bed, stands on her hind legs with her front paws on the bed for support. She looks at him pitifully and he gives in.

"Come here," Ryan concedes.

He picks up the dog and places her on the bed with him. Reaching over, he sets his alarm for a little earlier than normal, giving himself enough time to take the dog outside before Sandy would be getting up to go surfing. Ryan lies back and the puppy curls up beside him. She yawns. He absently begins to stroke her hair. She falls asleep almost immediately.

Ryan never believed that having a pet could help his mood, but just lying there petting the puppy, he's starting to feel better. Before long, Ryan's also asleep.

The alarm goes off way to early for Ryan's liking. He looks over at the puppy, who is now stretched out alongside his leg. She lifts her head, looking around, and then lays it back down. "I don't want to get up either," he admits.

With a sigh, he sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. He scoops up the puppy and takes her outside. He watches her run around, stopping to occasionally sniff something in the grass. Finally, she does what he took her outside to do and he takes her back inside.

She's more curious this morning and is checking out the pool house. Ryan sits on the bed, watching her for a few minutes. She's running from one corner to the other, only stopping when something catches her attention. Ryan gets caught up in watching her and before he knows it, thirty minutes has passed and he's running late for school.

When he has just finished getting ready and locking the puppy in the bathroom, Seth enters the pool house.

"Hey, man. Mom told me Lindsay was leaving, just wanted to check to see, you know…how you were doing," Seth says, sitting down in the chair across from the bed.

"I'm fine, Seth. Let's go before we're late for school," Ryan answers but his eyes keep darting back to the bathroom door.

"Whatcha hiding there, buddy? A girl in the bathroom? Lindsay, perhaps? Some good-bye sex?" Seth walks over to the bathroom door and puts his hand on the doorknob.

"Seth, don't," Ryan calls out.

At that moment, the puppy decides to whimper. Seth looks at Ryan in shock. "Is that a…dog?"

"Seth, just leave it. Come on. We're late for school."

"We have a few minutes," Seth says and opens the door.

The puppy runs out of the bathroom and straight to Ryan.

"He's no Captain Oats, but he seems to like you."

"He's a she," Ryan corrects.

Seth laughs. "I've heard that before."

"So what's her name anyway?" Seth asks.

"I don't know. I haven't really named her."

"Well, Seth is more of a man's name, but maybe we can work with it."

Seth's quiet for a moment. He appears to be lost in thought. Ryan figures he must be mulling over names that have "Seth" in them, but still sound feminine.

"Well, Ryan how about Scrappy?" Seth asks while nodding his head down toward Ryan's shoes where the puppy is playing with the shoestrings on his boots.

Ryan glares at Seth. He leans down picks up the puppy and locks her back in the bathroom. "Come on. We're late for school."

Every time Ryan sees Seth during the day, Seth has a new name for the puppy. Each one worse than the previous. By the time school's over, Ryan's ready to hide out in the pool house and not talk to Seth until at least morning. On top of that, Ryan still hasn't figured out what to do with the puppy. He knows he needs to tell the Cohens, but a part of him isn't ready to part with her.

Still lost in thought, Ryan walks up the Cohen driveway and sees the Rover parked in the driveway. He opens the front door and hears Kirsten call out. "Seth? Ryan? Is that you?"

"It's me, Kirsten," he answers.

He walks into the kitchen and is immediately attacked by the puppy. He looks at Kirsten, clearly confused.

"Rosa needed to change days off this week. She found the dog while cleaning your bathroom. Why didn't you tell us?" she explains.

"I was going to. I just….," he trails off.

How could he explain that last night he was hurting and this dog made him feel better? That having an unconditional friend who didn't want him to talk was what he needed? And besides that, having the puppy around was like having a childhood dream come true. Not finding a way to express his jumbled feelings, Ryan just shrugs.

"It's okay, Ryan. I've already called the animal shelter. The dog's family, the Hartmans, are on their way over to pick her up," Kirsten says nervously, twisting her rings around her finger.

"If you would like a pet, maybe we could talk about that after the Hartmans leave," she offers.

"No, it's okay. I'm just going to take her into the pool house." He scoops up the puppy. Turning back toward Kirsten he asks, "Call me when they get here?"

He lets the puppy play outside for a few moments before taking her inside. He lays down on the bed with her curled up beside him. He doesn't want to think about Lindsay or even about the puppy's family coming. He starts thinking about his homework but that leads to physics which leads to Lindsay. He sighs and rolls onto his side, punching his pillow. He begins petting the puppy absently.

Ryan's still petting the puppy when Kirsten walks into the pool house. "Ryan? They're here," she says sadly.

"It's okay, Kirsten. Let's go." He gets up and grabs the puppy off the bed.

Ryan and Kirsten walk into the kitchen where a woman and a little boy are waiting.

The boy's face immediately lightens up at the sight of _his_ puppy. The dog begins fighting to get out of Ryan's arms. He lets the dog down and she runs straight to the little boy.

The mom turns to Kirsten. "Thanks for finding her. Tyler here cried all night because we couldn't find her."

Kirsten smiles and turns toward Ryan. "Don't thank me. Actually, Ryan found her and brought her home."

"You have a very sweet son, Mrs. Cohen," Mrs. Hartman replies.

Kirsten smiles warmly at Ryan. "Yes, I do."

Ryan shifts uncomfortably at the conversation. He bends down so he is eye-level with Tyler. "So, what's her name?"

"Clara Bell," Tyler answers with apparent dislike in his voice.

"Tyler," Mrs. Hartman warns.

She turns back to Kirsten. "I wanted to get the kids a Yorkie, but Tyler fell in love with this dog. Nicole, my daughter, hated her, so as a compromise we let Nicole name her."

Tyler butts in. "Yeah, and she named her after a girl in _The Nutcracker_." He says "The Nutcracker" as if it's the worst thing in the world.

Ryan laughs. "So, what kind of dog is she?"

Mrs. Hartman groans. "She's a _mutt. _Can you imagine?"

Kirsten laughs nervously.

Ryan whispers loudly, "I happen to think that mutts make the best pets."

Tyler smiles. He looks up at his mom. "Mom, can Mr. Ryan come visit me and Clara Bell sometime?"

"Well, honey, that's up to Mr. Ryan."

"Will you? Please?" Tyler begs.

Ryan stands up and ruffles the little boy's sandy-blond hair. It's not something Ryan would normally do and it catches him off-guard. Sandy has done the same thing to him several times. Ryan looks at the boy and feels like the walls are closing in around him. He can't breathe.

He looks at Kirsten to see if she notices his discomfort. He can't tell if the look of pity on her face is because she knows he's upset and _why_, or if she thinks it's about Clara Bell. Ryan knows this boy doesn't look anything like what his child would've looked like, but performing that fatherly gesture brings up yet another set of emotions he doesn't want to deal with.

Theresa and the baby is something he has kept buried since coming back from Chino. Ryan's gut always told him the baby would be a girl. He almost laughs out loud at the memory of rubbing a hand across Theresa's swollen belly asking if she thought it was going to be a boy or a girl. She would always slap his hand away and tell him it didn't matter because whatever it was, he or she would be a pain in the ass, just like him.

Tyler's voice brings Ryan back out of his trance.

"Please, Mr. Ryan?" Tyler begs again.

"Of course, buddy."

Tyler smiles and Mrs. Hartman says it's time to go. The Hartmans leave and Ryan goes back to the pool house. He pulls down the shades, hoping to signal to the members of the main house that he wants to be alone. He strips out of his school clothes, leaving himself in only boxers and a wifebeater. Lowering himself into bed, his mind replays the last twenty-four hours. He sorts through the mess of emotions in his head and figures out what's really bothering him. He thought he was done with being left and Lindsay's departure just reminded him that he wasn't.

The dam that held back the emotions of the summer in Chino breaks. Ryan thinks about the baby and what might have been. Of course, the baby would've been a girl. All the women in Ryan's life leave. Right down to Clara Bell.

"Alone again," Ryan grumbles to himself.


End file.
